Write How You Write, Not How You Speak

Posted: 24 Apr 2012 08:19 PM PDT

Recently, I wrote about word patronage, the often-unnecessary inclusion of self-referential expressions as “as you will” and “so to speak” in one’s writing. This post expands on that one to recommend that you inspect your writing for anything that smacks of spoken English.
If you’ve ever seen a transcript of an extended discourse — a written record of someone’s comments, rather than the prepared script for a speech — you’ll understand how widely spoken and written English can diverge.
Spontaneous speech, at least, is riddled with qualifications and equivocations. It’s easy enough to dispose of “um”s and “uh”s, “well”s and “you know”s when converting a transcript to an essay, but writers should purge their prose of other utterances, words, and phrases as well that add a lot to a word count but little to a description or an argument. (See this post, for instance, for a list of adjectival intensifiers and their adverbial forms to avoid.)
In addition, omit hedging phrases such as “as I see it,” “from my point of view,” “in my opinion,” and “it seems to me.” Search and destroy such pompous filler as “be that as it may” or “other things being equal.” These are all understandable (though not necessarily forgivable) indulgences in spoken English, whether impromptu or rehearsed — at best, they’re nearly meaningless phrases one tosses off while thinking of what to say next, and at worst, they clutter a speech, distracting and discouraging listeners. But readers expect your prose to be direct and dynamic, and there’s no place for such self-gratification in written form.

Research paper rubric

Research Paper Calendar

English 11 Research paper

Career Pathway

Well known person

Research project                                    English 11                                    Luttke

Purpose:

State requirement, preparation for college writing

Objective:

To learn the research paper format. To write effectively and interesting enough for readers to comprehend.

Audience:

Teacher(s), peers, parent/guardian, and Senior Project judges.

Format:

RP MUST include title page, outline, headers, works cited

Writing will be formal with indenting, paragraphing, double spaced, no texting jargon, and proper capitalization.
All rough drafts and final must be typed using proper written format

MUST INCLUDE

                                                        5 sources

9 in text citations

                                                        Avoid opinion

RP length requirement:

850-1500 words – does not include title page, outline, headers or works cited

Grading procedure:

            12 Homework assignments (5 points each)

            2   Project assignments (25 points each)

Project evaluations:
    Please see rubric on the back of this assignment sheet. It will be used for the final research paper.

MLA format:
    Students will review MLA format as the writing progresses. Also, students are recommended to easybib.com and citationmachine.net for proper sourcing and citations.

Six tips for concise writing:
6.    Write in the active voice
5.    Show, don’t say
4.    Write it simply
3.    Use plain language
2.    Write it clearly - once
1.    Stay on message

English 11 week of April 23 for 4th and 5th hours

Reflections from the Kony projects were due on Friday, April 20. Other reflections are due Monday, April 23.

Mon. - Reading expectations for remainder of year. Samples of college application essays.

Tues - Brainstorming college application essay commonalities. Writing for potential topics.

Wed - "Step Up" to yesterdays potential topics. Writing expanded.

Fri - Writing draft of 250-350 words from Wed. writing. Submit or due on Monday.

English 11 week of April 23 for 1st, 2nd, and 7th hour

Vocabulary and journal entries were due on Friday, April 20 for The Crucible.

We will complete our essay drafts of ourselves this week. Expectations of multiple paragraph, short (300-400) essays about self with intro, body and conclusion

Mon:  Journals returned, selection of subject for essay, sample readings of essays

Tues:  "Step Up" selection and drafting. A draft will be due to on Friday. Double spaced.

Wed: Organized revision of draft. Finish a double spaced draft to be turned in on Friday.

Fri: Submit draft to Luttke. Talk about research expectations.

Mon: Corrections and final draft. Digital expected for Tuesday.

English 11 week of April 16 for 4th and 5th hour

Students will wrap up their Kony 2012 projects this week.

To begin a short unit on personal writing, students will view the movie The Rookie, it's about a Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.

It will give students some background into personal narrative writing, something that we will explore to assist in college applications and scholarship writings.

On Friday, students will listen to presentations by two groups on separate projects that we worked on during class dealing with the International Criminal Court, ICC, and issues that plague America.

Thursday, April 19 student will be required to write a Reflection on their experiences with their projects as they apply to the 4 C's of project based learning. The four C's are Communicator, Collaborator, Creator, and Critical thinker. A handout will be provided and time in class, the Reflection is due on Friday, April 20.

English 11 week of April 16 for 1st, 2nd and 7th hour

Student will be watching The Crucible, it is about a small group of teen girls in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts caught in an innocent conjuring of love potions to catch young men are forced to tell lies that Satan had invaded them and forced them to participate in the rites and are then forced to name those involved. Thrown into the mix are greedy preachers and other major landowners trying to steal others' land and one young woman infatuated with a married man and determined to get rid of his innocent wife. Arthur Miller wrote the events and the subsequent trials where those who demanded their innocence were executed, those who would not name names were incarcerated and tortured, and those who admitted their guilt were immediately freed as a parable of the Congressional Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joe McCarthy in 1950's America. Written by John Sacksteder

Students will be responsible for

*Vocabulary from The Crucible
*Questions regarding content from The Crucible

These items will be in the form of handouts, distributed on Tuesday, April 17 and are due on Friday, April 20

60 Synonyms for “Walk”

When you walk the walk, talk the talk: Replace the flat-footed verb walk with a more sprightly synonym from this list:

1. Amble: walk easily and/or aimlessly
2. Bounce: walk energetically
3. Clump: walk heavily and/or clumsily
4. Falter: walk unsteadily
5. Foot it: depart or set off by walking
6. Footslog: walk through mud
7. Gimp: see limp
8. Hike: take a long walk, especially in a park or a wilderness area
9. Hobble: walk unsteadily or with difficulty; see also limp
10. Hoof it: see “foot it”
11. Leg it: see “foot it”
12. Limp: walk unsteadily because of injury, especially favoring one leg; see also falter
13. Lumber: walk slowly and heavily
14. Lurch: walk slowly but with sudden movements, or furtively
15. March: walk rhythmically alone or in a group according to a specified procedure
16. Mince: walk delicately
17. Mosey: see amble; also, used colloquially in the phrase “mosey along”
18. Nip: walk briskly or lightly; also used colloquially in the phrase “nip (on) over” to refer to a brief walk to a certain destination, as if on an errand
19. Pace: walk precisely to mark off a distance, or walk intently or nervously, especially back and forth
20. Parade: walk ostentatiously, as if to show off
21. Perambulate: see stroll; also, travel on foot, or walk to inspect or measure a boundary
22. Peregrinate: walk, especially to travel
23. Plod: walk slowly and heavily, as if reluctant or weary
24. Pound: see lumber
25. Power walk: walk briskly for fitness
26. Prance: walk joyfully, as if dancing or skipping
27. Promenade: see parade
28. Pussyfoot: walk stealthily or warily (also, be noncommittal)
29. Ramble: walk or travel aimlessly (also, talk or write aimlessly, or grow wildly)
30. Roam: see ramble
31. Sashay: see parade
32. Saunter: to walk about easily
33. Scuff: to walk without lifting one’s feet
34. Shamble: see scuff
35. Shuffle: see scuff (also, mix, move around, or rearrange)
36. Stagger: walk unsteadily (also, confuse or hesitate, or shake)
37. Stalk: walk stealthily, as in pursuit
38. Step: walk, or place one’s foot or feet in a new position
39. Stomp: walk heavily, as if in anger
40. Stride: walk purposefully, with long steps
41. Stroll: see saunter
42. Strut: see parade
43. Stumble: walk clumsily or unsteadily, or trip
44. Stump: see lumber
45. Swagger: walk with aggressive self-confidence
46. Tiptoe: walk carefully on the toes or on the balls of the foot, as if in stealth
47. Toddle: see saunter and stagger; especially referring to the unsteady walk of a very young child
48. Totter: see stagger (also, sway or become unstable)
49. Traipse: walk lightly and/or aimlessly
50. Tramp: see lumber and hike
51. Trample: walk so as to crush something underfoot
52. Traverse: walk across or over a distance
53. Tread: walk slowly and steadily
54. Trip: walk lightly; see also stumble
55. Tromp: see lumber
56. Troop: walk in unison, or collectively
57. Trot: see nip
58. Trudge: see plod
59. Waddle: walk clumsily or as if burdened, swinging the body
60. Wander: see ramble

English 11 week of April 9 1st, 2nd, and 7th hour

We will make sure that we have gathered enough journal entries that we may begin selecting and editing by the end of the week.

The week will be filled with practice writings, discussions, and revision to enable us to move forward on our own writings next week.

Reading is again our focus this nine weeks. I want to take the focus off personal reading, and place it on lessons that will improve comprehension.

I've realized, it's not enough to be able to read what interests you well. It's about reading what is assigned to you well.

7 Similar but Distinct Word Pairs
Look-alike, sound-alike words can cause confusion. Note the distinctions between each pair of terms listed below:

1. Abjure and Adjure
Abjure, from Latin by way of French, means “to deny” or “to renounce,” or “to avoid.” Adjure, which took the same route to English, means “to confirm” or “to command,” or “to advise or urge.” In some senses, therefore, they are near antonyms. (That’s logical: Ab- means “from” and ad- means “to.”) However, they do share a root syllable, the same one that is the basis of jury, jurisprudence, just, justice, and other terms from the realm of law.

2. Chafe and Chaff
Chafe, ultimately derived from the Latin term calefacere, “to make warm or hot,” originally meant just that, but then, from the added sense of “rubbing to make warm,” it acquired the negative connotations of “make sore by rubbing” and then, by association, “irritate.” Chaff, an unrelated word, comes from Old English and refers to seed husks and, by extension, anything discarded as worthless. By association with the cloud of husks and other debris produced during threshing of grain, bursts of tiny scraps of metal ejected from aircraft to interfere with enemy radar is called chaff.

3. Discomfort and Discomfit
These similar-looking words have similar meanings, but it was not always so. Discomfort is the antonym of the word ultimately stemming from the Latin term confortare, meaning “to strengthen.” (Fort is also the root of, well, fort, as well as fortitude.) Discomfit, from the French word desconfit, meaning “defeated” (its Latin root means “to make”), was weakened by false association with discomfort to mean “frustrate” or “perplex.” Unlike the antonym for discomfort, comfit (“to make”) is not an antonym; it refers to candied fruit. Comfiture, however, is a rare synonym meaning “an act of support.”

4. Perspicacious and Perspicuous
Both words stem from the Latin term perspicere, meaning “looking through,” which is also the source of perspective. (The element spic, from specare, meaning “look at,” is also the root of spectacle and speculation.) However, the meanings are distinct: A perspicacious person is one who is astute or mentally alert; the quality so demonstrated is perspicacity. A perspicuous argument is one that is plainly clear and precise.

5. Practicable and Practical
Something practicable is usable or feasible, while something practical is useful — a slight but significant distinction. Practicable is used to refer to something that is or could be done (“a practicable policy”), while practical is associated with action or use: A practical umbrella is one that keeps rain from falling on you in the rain; an impractical one is decorative but not sturdy or waterproof enough for practical use.

6. Turbid and Turgid
Turbid refers to a sate of cloudiness, opacity, or obscurity; its Latin source is turba, meaning “confusion.” Turgid, from the Latin term turgidus, meaning “swollen,” means just that — or, by extension, “embellished” or “pompous,” in that a turgid speech, for example, is delivered by a person swollen with self-importance.

7. Waiver and Waver
Waiver, referring to abandonment or relinquishment, is from an Anglo-French word meaning “to abandon.” Waver, likely from the Old English term waefre, which means “restless,” means “to act indecisively.” The latter term is therefore probably related to the verb wave, meaning “to move back and forth,” and the same word as a noun, referring to the act of waving or to something that moves back and forth, like an ocean wave or a radio wave.

You’ll find discussions of many other easily confused words by searching on this site for the words “commonly confused” or for the specific words.